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Thursday, 16 February 2017

The Search is Underway for UK's First Small Business Commissioner

Applications are
open to become the UK’s first Small Business Commissioner – a high profile role
supporting small businesses in payment disputes with their larger customers,
which will sit within the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial
Strategy.

The successful
candidate will provide general advice and information, handle complaints about
payment issues and direct small businesses to existing dispute resolution services.
Recent findings from the payment processor Bacs report that nearly half of the
UK’s small-to-medium sized businesses experience late payment, with £26.3
billion owed to them in total.

The Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy is looking for candidates who have
credibility with both small and large businesses; can advise parties in
resolving disputes; and who have an appetite to become a national spokesperson
for small businesses affected by payment issues.

The final
appointment decision will be made by the Secretary of State, supported by a
panel which will include Mike Cherry, the National Chairman at the Federation
of Small Businesses.

Small Business
Minister Margot James said “We all rely on the UK’s 5.5 million small and
medium sized businesses for jobs, goods and services, and an unfair payment
culture that hurts these firms has no place in an economy that works for all.
This is why we are looking for an exceptional individual to help smaller firms
resolve payment disputes and champion a culture change in how businesses work
together.

Addressing the
barriers businesses face when scaling up and growing is an important part of a
modern Industrial Strategy, and this appointment will play an integral role in
ensuring small businesses have the support they need to thrive and grow.”

Commenting on the
move to recruit a Small Business Commissioner, Mike Cherry, National Chairman
at the Federation of Small Businesses, said “FSB research shows that poor
payment practice is on the rise, causing 50,000 business deaths each year.

Small firms need a
Commissioner who will make a meaningful difference to the £26bn currently stuck
in bank accounts as payments outstanding to SMEs. He or she must be given the
powers and resources to tackle this, to step in to save small firms whose
livelihoods are under threat, and to promote a prompt payment culture right
across the economy”.

The Small Business
Commissioner, expected to be based in Birmingham, is just one part of a package
of measures designed to tackle late payment and to drive change in the UK’s business
payment culture. From April 2017 big businesses will be required to publically
report on the time taken to pay their suppliers, a move that the government
hopes will help businesses make informed decisions about who they do business
with.